This week I wanted to elaborate on this further but show you how to deal with bullets, headers, sub-headers etc.

1. Writing a powerful headline – the saying is you should always fill your headlines with benefits which are related to a desire. So instead of just saying ‘lose 1-5lbs’, you can top this by adding ‘drop a dress size and reclaim your wardrobe.’ Your headlines need to be emotive and focus on one specific theme. The point is you can’t sell to everyone, which is why you need to pick your ideal consumer and target them

   Your headline can also aggrevate your audience before providing them with a solution.

   One useful tip I have found beneficial is to theme your headline around one of the following: a) time/speed b) diaster story/pain or c)natural/purity

2. Sub-headers – the best copywriters are able to use their sub-headers to tell a story whilst providing your audience with an accurate summation of what is to follow in the next paragraph. The key is to make sure that the paragraph that follows leads from this subheading.
3. What is their reading age – it is important when writing sales copy to make sure that the language you use is understandable. It is for that reason that most newspapers and websites will treat their readership as though they have got a reading age of  11.
4. Don’t persume they know everything – if for example you work for a company that sells detox products enriched in antioxidants, it is important to assume that not everyone visiting your site will know what antioxidants are. Now whilst you can’t go overboard explaining it, giving a bried descriptions of how antioxidants impact on toxins and you will win a broader selection of sales
5. It is all about ‘you’ - it has been proven that integrating ‘you’ focused copy can produce more sales. Similarly keeping your tone converstational and personal will enable consumers to relate to you and your product/service
6. Include a P.S. – these are heavily understated but easily be used to re-iterate your products benefits, introduce a CTA or remind them of an important element. If you want to use a P.S. it is best to use the following formula:

- Time limit
- Main benefit – reiterate
- Guarantee

Never go above 4 as this can appear overbearing and will affect the potency of these P.S.’s as you get consumers to buy.

Writing effective sales copy is heavily dependent on the type of audience you are writing for, so whilst a personalised sales letter make work on someone who is looking to lose weight, clear their acne and become healthily, this might not always work on someone in the property investment market.

The trick I am afraid is trial and error. Split testing your sales letters and seeing which produces the best conversions.

Of the sales letters I have written to date though, there is one formula I would recommend to copywriters just starting out. A great copywriter recommended this to me and it hasn’t failed me yet:

THE PROMISE: In your headline try to define what are you offering. What is your unique selling point?

THE PICTURE: Ask yourself why the consumer is here? What are they looking for? Take this information and agitate the problem before sympathising with their situation

THE SOLUTION: Introduce your product. What is it? What does it do? Build interest

THE PROOF: List the benefits of the product. Prove that it works and why it works

CALL TO ACTION: Reiterate why the consumer is here. Restate the benefits of your product. Prove why their lives will be much better after using this product. Be emotive.

PRICE: Depending on the type of product/service you are promoting here is your chance to show the price of the product/service, its cost and incredible value for money

REMOVE THE RISK: Once you have iterated the price, remove the risk of investing by discussing your guaranteed results and guarantee

ORDER NOW: Show them how easy it is to order your product/service

CALL TO ACTION: Restate why the consumer should order. Highlight the products best benefits

I have used this template on a few of my campaigns now and it seems to have worked; however I strongly recommend that you continue researching and looking for templates to add to your swipe file. A good sales page is one that keeps you readin from start to finish.

Sales copy is harder than you think. It is poweful stuff…

I was reading a sales copy page the other day and even though I recognised all the triggers I found myself at the end of the page, ready and prepped to buy the product. The copy had caught me hook, line and sinker and had invoked feelings and insecurities about my appearance that I never knew I had.

So what did they do?

Simple. They targetted my emotions, agitated my need and offered me a solution.

Now I am not going to teach you everything about sales copy today – I’d be writing forever lol – but I thought today I would offer out some tips to help get you started.

1. Research – your sales copy is only as powerful as the knowledge you inject into it. For example, would you believe a weight loss supplement website if the writer sounded like they didn’t know a thing about the product? Of course you wouldn’t. Your first question would be: what aren’t you telling me? Instantly removing trust.

   So believe you write a single word: research your product, look at your competition and check out its history, i.e. clinical trials, past successes…

2. Pick a Unique Selling point – look at any industry/market and you will find products/services which are exactly the same bar their brand name. As a copywriter your mission is to make your product unique, which means you need to find a unique selling point (USP) that no other product in your industry is marketing.

   This can even be something that your competitors do the same but don’t advertise i.e. suitable for vegetarians. You’ll be surprised by how much pointing out this small difference will make to the success of your product.

3. Know your audience – instead of trying to write copy that satisfies everyone, try to imagine that the perfect customer is sitting in front of you. With this insight consider what they are looking for, how are they feeling, why are they searching for you etc, and begin structuring a plan.
4. Benefits, Benefits, Benefits – the distinction between a feature and a benefit is often blurred. Even the best of copywriters have made this mistake…

   Now the trick to writing quality sales copy is fill your copy with details of how your product/service will better their lives. Surprisingly the winning line for a weight loss supplement is not pointing out how much weight a consumer can lose, but how this weight loss will benefit them.

   If you struggle to come up with benefits try the following. Write the feature of the product/service and ask yourself the following question ‘which means?’ This will help you to come up with a concoction of benefits which will draw consumers in.

5. Create a swipe file -  saw a piece of sales copy that made your hand itch to press the ‘Buy Now’ button. Create a copy of the page and pop it in a folder. Whether it was the headline, a particular paragraph, the structure of the copy or the way they tackled their products benefits… they can teach you how to adapt your copy and improve your sales copy style.

   PLEASE NOTE: Never copy another websites copy. The purpose of this Swipe file, is to help you develop as a writer and learn from others.